'Obama should resign in protest of Ferguson jury decision'

A walkout by the first family would restore African Americans faith in the country, says Dotun Adebayo

Written by Dotun Adebayo
06/12/2014 12:00 PM

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FAILED: President Obama has failed minorities on security and justice

I WOULDN'T like to be in President Obama’s shoes right now. Those Ballys are an uncomfortable fit in light of what’s been going on in Ferguson since this summer.

As if it wasn’t bad enough that white cops have been shooting unarmed black youths willy nilly across the United States this year (and shooting season ain’t over yet), Mr Obama has also got to contend with the belief that there ain’t no justice in the USA - just us.

Remember, this is a president who stood on a platform of a better America, an America of change and equality for all its citizens.

It seems like everybody else has got equality stateside, except us. President Obama has removed barriers to homosexuals joining the armed forces. Women have won more rights under him. And even illegal immigrants are about to be given the right to full American citizenship. No doubt those interest groups and their offspring will live long and fruitful lives under the American dream and if they are shot dead by police when they are unarmed, the policemen in question will be brought before the courts to justify their actions.

Not so for our children, Mr Obama. And there ain’t a damn thing you can do about it. Actually, there is one thing you can do....

QUESTION

This is the first time I have ever criticised Barack Obama. It’s taken six years for me to ask the question of him, “What have you done for US lately?”

The truth is, on the most fundamental question, the most important duty of any head of state - that of security and justice - Obama has failed his own people. And I for one don’t know if he can ever be forgiven for this.

SOLIDARITY: Demonstrators in Washington DC protest the grand jury decision not to bring charges against the policeman who shot and killed Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri

We need a big gesture from the president to restore our faith. He should have walked out of the White House in protest at the injustice of Ferguson and the Grand Jury towards Michael Brown’s family. It would have had a resounding impact all over the world and Obama would show America that there is only so much racism that any black president can take.

Of course, a walkout by the first family could lead racist American cops who wanted to get rid of a subsequent black president to believe that all they had to do was shoot an unarmed black teenager. But the next time around they wouldn’t get away with it. The Grand Jury of the future would realise what is at stake and they wouldn’t take the killings of our children lightly. America wouldn’t stand for the resignation of another black president.

Come on, Mr President, do the right thing and resign as a matter of principle - for your children’s sake, for your children’s children’s sake. For all our children. And for your legacy. Let it be known in history so that hundreds of years from now people will acknowledge what an institutionally racist place America is still today. Resign so that African Americans who put you in power can restore their faith in you. Resign so that black people all over the world can add you to the greatest black leaders - Marcus Garvey, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Nelson Mandela, Barack Obama. Yeah, we could dig that. It has a certain ring to it.

Posted on: 06/12/2014 12:00 PM

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